Another Tin!

In 2008 (ish) my family started doing an annual Cookie Baking Weekend Extravaganza. I didn't have any cookie tins at the first gathering, so my sweet mother gave me all the tins that she didn't particularly enjoy. Some of them are a bit...outdated and none of them are really me except the sleigh scene pictured lower left. So last year I decided to start collecting my own tins. I am so pleased with how this collection is coming!

In July I stopped by the CUTEST little antique store in Saugatuck, MI where I spotted the red beauty in the bottom right corner:

Better still I talked them down to $3! I'm already on the lookout for the next additions to my collection of sleigh tins. If you spot one, let me know! :)

Summer Salad

Summer Salad

This salad represents the epitome of summer to me. Major yum. Goes great with BBQ, Indian food, or on its own as a healthy lunch!

One large ripe tomato
One large ripe cucumber
1/4 red onion, sliced and chopped
1/3 cup Italian dressing

Mix all (vary the proportions if you'd like). Chill several hours before eating to let the flavors meld. Tastes even better the next day, although you can eat it right away if you can't help yourself.

iPhone Trick for Mama's with Squirmy Kiddos

Smart people probably already have this figured out but I didn't until my daughter was about 7 months old. We all have photos that look like this:

She looked at the camera and smiled right BEFORE this photo was taken. It will now be deleted because the shutter speed on the iPhone camera is too slow to catch the movement and it's a bit blurry. THERE'S A SOLUTION!! Take a VIDEO of your child and try to get them to smile at the camera. Focus on keeping the camera centered on the kiddo and do whatever it takes to get that baby to look at you and smile. Notice the high-pitched talking and face-making that goes on in the below video to get her to smile...if possible:



Then after you've taken the video view it but pause it instead of playing it. Use the cursor at the top of the screen to navagate the video and find the perfect spot where your child looks cute. Then tap the screen once to get rid of the cursor. Now take a SCREEN SHOT by holding down the center button and the power button at the same time. Your new photo will go the end of your camera role. This is the photo I got from taking the above video:

 It's not as high quality of a photo as it could be, but your baby will look cute! Now a little tweaking on picmonkey.com and I've got a pretty nice photo (for an iPhone with a slow shutter speed)!

So to recap, (1) take a video (2) pause the video in the perfect spot (3) take a screen shot. Enjoy!